Trades by State
We are an independent site, not a government office, and this is not legal advice. Every number links to the official page it came from and shows when we last checked it.
Before your first paid job

Plumbing, HVAC and electrical license requirements by state

The license and what it costs. The least insurance you must carry. Whether you need a bond or a credit check. When to charge sales tax. Where your license number has to be printed. And the deadlines that protect your right to get paid.

Every figure links to the official page it came from and shows the date a person last checked it. Nothing goes on this site unchecked.

Find your page

One page for each state and trade.

Start with your trade

Each opens every page we have for that trade, state by state. More trades come after these three cover all fifty states.

Plumbing

Journeyman, master and business licenses, with the insurance, bond and tax rules.

25 states checked

HVAC

Licenses by size of job, the federal refrigerant card, and where a city licenses you instead.

25 states checked

Electrical

Apprentice to master to contractor, and where low-voltage work falls outside the license.

25 states checked

Start with your state

Pick your state, then the trade. Every page has the license, insurance, bond and tax rules for that trade in that state, with a link to the official source for each figure.

25 states so far

Being written next: Illinois, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Colorado, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Maryland, Indiana and Missouri. Then the rest, biggest first. A state appears here the day a person has checked every figure on its pages.

Things that catch people out

One line from a checked page. Each is the kind of rule that costs a day, or a job, when you learn it late.

The whole rule for the residential R-11 is one sentence. It lets you install and repair residential electrical systems, and nothing else is written down. The commercial C-11 runs to a paragraph and stops at 600 volts.

A C-10 with no employees can still file the no-employee workers' comp exemption. The five trades that cannot are concrete, asbestos abatement, heating and air, roofing, and tree service. That door closes for every trade on January 1, 2028.

Solar work has its own registration since 2025. A contractor fitting photovoltaic systems who is not a registered electrical contractor must register as a photovoltaic installer by 31 December 2026.

The state board does not issue journeyman electrician licenses. Counties and cities do, and once one of them has issued you a journeyman license, every other county and city in Florida must recognize you as a journeyman.

Guides that cover every state

One question, with the answer for every state side by side.

  • Can you charge sales tax on labor? The rule in 25 states
  • Insurance minimums compared across statescoming
  • Workers' comp rules for contractors, state by statecoming
  • Where your license number has to be printedcoming
  • Do you need a license? Plumbing, HVAC and electrical by statecoming
  • Your license lapsed. Now what?coming

Tools you can use today

Small, free, and built from the same checked figures.

How we keep the numbers right

Three steps, every page, every figure.

Read from the official page

Every number comes from the state board, the statute or the rule book, and links back to it. Never from another website.

Checked by a person

A second reading against the same page, then a person confirms the figures that cost money to get wrong: insurance, bonds, deadlines.

Re-checked every month

A program re-reads every official page we link to, once a month. If one changes, the page is marked for another look before anyone relies on it.

Spotted something out of date? Tell us and point us to the official page that shows the new number. New to all this? Read how a page works.